Susan’s Story – Part 2: Overcoming Overwhelm with a Family Business Strategy

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Susan was feeling overwhelmed in her business, which spilled over and affected her time and energy levels across all facets of her life. She was especially concerned about the toll it was taking on her family. Note how she overcame overwhelm with a focused family business strategy.
(If you missed Part I of Susan’s Story, Click Here to Read.)Susan found herself in the same boat as many of us as entrepreneurs – we start off “doing it all”, and then we find ourselves out to sea and feeling adrift amidst overwhelming waves of frustration. But it’s not necessarily because of business going poorly – in fact, it may be the opposite!Susan saw that her business was growing – by leaps and bounds, actually! And that’s a good thing. That was the plan from the beginning – to grow the business, help more people, and provide more income for her growing family. So what went wrong?

It was not a matter of “doing the wrong thing” as much as recognizing that, as her business grows, she must have a plan to put systems and support into place to under-gird the ship she was navigating.

But I Can’t Turn The Helm Over To An Inexperienced Helper!

You see, Susan was very concerned about giving up the helm of her business. She had personally invested years of her life in establishing a company with an immaculate reputation – and she wasn’t about to let it go! She was supremely relieved to understand that she didn’t have to – in fact, her company needs her at the helm now more than ever!

Susan had a quantum shift in her perception that made all the difference. She began to realize that trying to do “everything” was diluting the one thing that only SHE could do – be the chief CEO for her company. She needed to provide the leadership, quality control, and overseeing for the direction in which her company would head.

And she was irreplaceable as that leader.

After hearing a presentation about coaching, and relating to the question posed that asked: “Are you a CEO or a SLAVE?”, Susan decided to take action. She had heard that coaching was the second fastest growing profession in the world last year, and for good reason! She listened and thought about the lack of leverage in her own company, and how that could change.

* She thought about ROI – return on investment – and how exploding her effectiveness would make the investment in coaching seem miniscule by comparison.

* She imagined having regular, planned sessions where she could “unload” about what wasn’t working, and focus on what WAS improving – shooting to accentuate the positive and eliminate or rework the negative.

* The thought of a supportive person who would both brainstorm with her, plus provide a list of action steps to complete before the next session, began to float her boat of hope again!

When she heard the offer for a 20-minute free coaching session, she jumped on it immediately!

Susan was actually in a great position – she was drowning and she knew it. She knew that doing more of the same wasn’t going to move her any closer to the shoreline of her dreams.

Her decision to take action – to call for some support and help – was a game changer for her!

The next post will take a peek into her actual coaching sessions to see what kind of waves Susan was able to make in her life and business – with the support of a caring coach!